Evaluation and measurement remains the Holy Grail for all consultants. The problem is that many of them lack the right tools to evaluate their work. Such tools are often considered to be expensive, but in reality is this just an excuse?
Even though official figures suggest that the UK economy is growing, securing new HR consulting work remains difficult. Potential clients still feel uncertain about the economic outlook and the recently announced Comprehensive Spending Review is likely to make them even less likely to commit until they seen how things pan out. With the public sector expecting the biggest budget cuts in decades, the private sector can’t accurately predict how these cuts will impact their business.
No wonder the decision-making process has become painfully slow and pitches more complex. Even if you win the business, it might take months before a contract is signed. Convincing organisations to part with their money doesn’t only require strong sales skills, but also solid evidence that the consulting work is going to make a tangible difference to their business.
However, evaluation and measurement remains the Holy Grail for all consultants. The problem is that many of them lack the right tools to evaluate their work. Such tools are often considered to be expensive, but in reality is this just an excuse? In today’s market there are cost-effective tools available that could help consultants prove their worth.
Firstly, consultants need to decide what they need to measure. Many change programmes driven by management consultants are designed to impact the performance and productivity of an organisation. As most people now accept, there is a direct link between people’s level of engagement at work and the productivity they generate. Therefore measuring changing levels of engagement can be a very effective way of measuring the impact of a change programme.
Last year, the independent MacLeod Review led by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, focused on this issue and was widely discussed by the HR community. Thanks to extensive media coverage and numerous conferences dedicated to this issue, employee engagement is now higher on business leaders’ agenda than ever. This is very good news for consultants, because changes in the levels of engagement can easily be measured by conducting engagement surveys. And they can be used by a wide range of consultants – not just those actively involved in engagement projects.
When implementing any change programmes, it’s crucial to have employees on side and regularly measure their attitudes to the proposed changes, as well as their hopes and fears. It’s equally important when considering a change to a reward system, as it is when fighting with absenteeism or even making changes to, for example, distribution channels. Employees need to be aligned with what an organisation is trying to achieve and engagement surveys can help verify if they are. They will also highlight any areas that need improving, so that consultants can focus their work appropriately and therefore improve the outcome of their programme.
However, while a few consultancies might have the wherewithal to conduct their own employee surveys, most are unlikely to have the tools and capacity to do this themselves. But if they can add this capability to their armory, it not only enhances their service but could provide a competitive advantage.
At Edgecumbe Research, we’ve traditionally been brought in by employers to conduct engagement surveys, but recently we’ve been receiving enquiries from consultants working in Organisational Development, Change, Learning and Development or Performance Management who have spotted the value in conducting employee research as an integral part of their offer.
By working with us, one very successful consulting business is now benefitting from data generated from client surveys in two ways: firstly, the survey data provides them and their clients with greater clarity into how best to implement their work programmes, thereby potentially improving the effectiveness of implementation. Secondly, by carrying out a follow up survey they can measure the impact that the programmes have on employee engagement. If one accepts the indisputable evidence of the linkage between employee engagement and business performance, at the very least this will provide a measure of the potential for hard financial benefit.
The main advantage of finding with a professional research partner is that they can stay in the background and get the job done with minimal fuss allowing the consultancy to focus on what it does best. With the right technology, it’s relatively easy and inexpensive to distribute questionnaires online (or on paper) and then collate results into presentable reports. Confidentiality is guaranteed and turnaround is quick. Good research companies will also provide professionally prepared questions, proper analysis of the results and benchmark data to compare the results.
However, even though it sounds a cliché, it’s not worth buying off the shelf solutions when it comes to the questionnaire. It’s important to tailor the questions to ensure that they generate information which addresses the programme the consultant is running. The form of presenting the results might also be important, as consultants might need quantitative data to prove certain points; or sometimes the qualitative findings might prove more useful to find out why certain things are happening.
Linking the consulting work to engagement will allow consultants to measure their work and predict the likely impact on their clients’ performance. And this is exactly what clients are looking for in the current market. They’re under a lot of pressure to prove the return on investment and won’t commit to any spend unless consultants can show that they can measure the effectiveness of what they’re planning to do. It can become their key selling point and will also help them compete for bigger contracts.
For further information contact Chris Marshall on 0117 925 8822 or visit www.employesurveys.co.uk/engageddiagnostics/ .
